2.To give the sense involves
using intelligence and knowledge to discern the meaning of the Biblical
text.

C.Within the churches of
Christ, most believe that this process involves three elements:commands, examples, and necessary
inference.

D.However, since the late
1980s and early 1990s, many have been calling for a New Hermeneutic.In two previous lessons, we have
examined some of the tenets of the New Hermeneutic.We want to continue with this study in
this lesson.

I.THE
NEW TESTAMENT IS A LOVE LETTER, NOT A CONSTITUTION

A.Keirgegard:“To read the Bible thoughtlessly or
carelessly or academically or professionally is not to read the Bible as God’s
word.As one reads it as a love
letter, then one reads it as the word of God” (Protestant Biblical
Interpretation, p. 75).

B.For some reason man wants to
approach the Word of God with deep emotionalism and sentimentality.Those who approach the Word of God out
of sheer emotionalism despise those who approach the Bible as a rational, legal
document.

1.There is no doubt that the
Bible is an expression of God’s love for man.In the Bible, He reveals just how much
He loves humanity (Rom. 5:8).

But God
commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us.

2.However, the Bible is a
covenant, a binding law.

a.Hebrews 8:6-8

But now hath he
obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a
better covenant, which was established upon better promises.For if that first covenant had
been faultless, then should no place have been sought for a second.For finding fault with them, he saith,
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the
house of Israel and with the
house of Judah.

b.Romans 8:2

For the law of
the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death.

C.This tenet of the New
Hermeneutic is an attack on the authoritative nature of the Word of
God.

1.A
love letter just contains a message to the one loved.

2.A
constitution involves laws and regulations to be obeyed.

D.The book of Hebrews makes it
very clear that the NT is a covenant.It is a covenant that is far superior to the Law of Moses.As a covenant, it is to be heard,
heeded, and refused not.

1.Hebrews
2:1-4

2.Hebrews
10:26-31

3.Hebrews
12:24-25

And to Jesus the
mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh
better things than that of Abel.See that ye refuse not him that speaketh.For if they escaped not who refused him
that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him
which speaketh from heaven.

II.THE REJECTION OF
THE CONCEPT OF PATTERN THEOLOGY

A.Pattern theology is the
ideal that the NT contains numerous patterns that are binding upon us
today.

1.The plan of
salvation.

2.The organization of the
church.

3.The worship of the
church.

B.Those who tout the New
Hermeneutic are very critical of pattern theology.

3.“Much division in the
Restoration movement has resulted from interpret-tative disagreements regarding
the exhaustive blueprint and attendant prohibitive role of silence.Perhaps our history of fragmentation
suggests that the pattern concept of Scripture may not be consonant with the New
Testament itself” (Woody Woodrow, CSC, 1984).

C.Pattern theology can be
traced back to the days of Moses, and even farther back to the days of
Noah.

1.Noah and the ark (Gen.
6:14-16).

Make thee an ark
of gopher wood:rooms shalt thou
make in the ark, and shall pitch it within and without with pitch.And this is the fashion which thou shalt
make it of:the length of the ark
shall be three hundred cubits, and the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the
height of it thirty cubits.A
window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it
above:and the door of the ark
shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories, shalt
thou make it.

2.Moses, the tabernacle and
its furnishings.

a.Exodus 25:9

According to all
that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all
the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.

b.Exodus
25:40

And look that
thou make them after their pattern, which was showed thee in the
mount.

c.The pattern that Moses was
to follow was important because the things he built were patterns, shadows,
images, and types of things to come.In fact, they were patterns of heavenly things to come (Heb.
8:5).

Who serve unto
the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when
he was about to make the tabernacle:for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern
showed to thee in the mount.

D.God has always used
patterns.For us to follow the
patterns set forth by the apostles and church of the first century is not our
undoing.

1.One of the patterns is found
in Acts 20:7.

And upon the
first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul
preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and he continued his speech
until midnight.

a.Do we follow this pattern and partake of the Lord’s Supper only on the
first day of the week?

b.Those who reject pattern theology say, “No.”They partake of it on Saturday nights,
at weddings, and at other times they deem appropriate.

2.In I Timothy 1:16, Paul affirmed that his salvation was a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to
life everlasting.

a.First, Paul must have been mistaken.Pattern theology is to be
abandoned.

b.Second, part of Paul’s conversion involved baptism (Acts
22:16).

c.Those who reject pattern theology want to accept individuals into our
fellowship even though they have not been baptized into Christ.They want to accept others who have been
baptized, but who were not baptized for the remission of
sins.

CONCLUSION

A.The attempt on the part of
the New Hermeneutic is to diminish and destroy the authority of the New
Testament.

1.The Bible becomes a good
story book.

2.The Bible becomes a
wonderful self-help book.

B.God’s Word is more than
this.It is a law to be obeyed and
a pattern to be followed.It is the
standard by which we will be judged in the last day (John
12:48).

He that
rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him:the word that I have spoken the same
shall judge him in the last day.